Office of Anachronism Control

Field Device 7

EV-0079-7 IN CONTROLLED CUSTODY CAP Rev. 12.4

Material

Polymer shell, chemically strengthened glass, sintered rare earth magnets, one sealed cell

Approximate manufacture

Not established

Approved invention date

2019

Recovery date

1748

Administrative age

-1947 years, pending reconciliation

Current location

Property Vault 6, Office of Anachronism Control. The item also appears in a Neapolitan collection register dated 1748, on a 1961 Bureau property write off, and on the 2026 inventory that records its arrival.

Custodial office

Office of Anachronism Control

Public impact

Level 3, Administrative

Entered register

August 6, 2026

Description

One standard Bureau handset, property tag HAEB-P-000007. Condition code: government used.

The item is recorded as 1 of 1. Field report FR-0079-14 records the issue of two.

The shell carries adherent ash consistent with the district of recovery. The glass is undamaged.

Chain of custody

1. Year 79. Issued to Spencer R., HAEB-7714, for duty in the Vesuvius District. Not returned at withdrawal.
2. Year 79 to 1748. In government custody. No transfer document exists for this period and none is required, because no transfer occurred.
3. 1748. Brought up during excavation. Entered a Neapolitan collection register as one object of unknown use, described as glass and dark stone.
4. 1748 to 1961. Held privately, then institutionally. The Bureau has not sought the intervening documents, on the grounds that custody was already established.
5. 1961. Listed on a Bureau property write off as Item 7, disposition “not located.” An appeal was filed the same year.
6. 1974. Removed from the write off during a records consolidation. The reason recorded is “item located.” The consolidation is the same one that moved Archive Box HAEB-1844-3.
7. 1974 to 2026. Assigned to three offices in sequence. Each assignment was declined by the receiving office and accepted by the office that had declined it previously.
8. 2026. Received into inventory, Property Vault 6.

Administrative age is computed under Directive 6.3 as the year custody commenced, less the year of the governing inventory record. Custody commenced in the year 79. The governing inventory record is dated 2026.

79 less 2026 is negative 1,947.

An item with a negative administrative age has not completed its first year in custody. Under Directive 6.3 an item that has not completed its first year in custody may not be classified as lost. The 1961 appeal therefore remains open.

The interval described is 1,947 years.

Media manifest

The item’s storage was examined under Directive 6.3. The following files are recorded. No interpretation is offered.

1. Two still images, file dates 1215. One shows a sealed document on a trestle table. One shows a gloved hand holding a property tag.
2. One still image, file date 1908. An interior corridor. A bound visitor log on a stand. One line of the log is legible.
3. One still image, labeled 2043. An empty room. Stacked chairs. A Bureau seal on the wall.
4. One firmware build record. The build string cites Current Approved Past, Revision 12.2.
5. One photograph, undated. A corridor. Spencer R. appears at both ends of it.
6. One audio file, four seconds, no content above the noise floor.

The Office of Anachronism Control has verified that the files are present.

Examination

1. The item powers on.
2. Carbon dating of adherent material returned a result consistent with the first century.
3. The item’s own clock reports an uptime exceeding its approved invention date.
4. The item has no serial number. It has a property tag.
5. The property tag numbering scheme was adopted in 1974.
6. Examination did not establish a manufacture date. Examination established that the item is Bureau property, which was the question referred.

Disposition

1. RETAIN in Property Vault 6.
2. Item 7 is not lost and has not been lost.
3. Item 7 may not be written off until it has completed its first year in custody.
4. Requests for transfer are accepted and referred to the office that most recently declined the item.
5. HAEB Form 17-B has been filed on behalf of the Bureau by the Bureau.
6. The 1961 appeal remains open and is not scheduled for decision.

Item 7 remains in government custody, as it has since the year 79.